Brazilian Cinema

Let’s talk about Brazilian Cinema!

Do you guys know anything about it? (Well, I'm guessing City of God, probably)

I’ll start with 1964’s “Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol” by Glauber Rocha which would translate literally as “God and the Devil at Sun’s Land”, but was translated as “Black God, White Devil”.

Glauber used to call his vision the "aesthetics of hunger", to address class and racial unrest, but I feel it is a film about making your own path, about the different shackles that that wasted land has to offer, and how different people act, react and cope with adversity. It’s kind of a Western sometimes, and it is a masterpiece.

It is part of the Cinema Novo movement in Brazilian moviemaking, a brilliant time in world’s Cinema.



At Amazon

yeah, I know about City of God (great), Turistas (totally kidding) and one of my favourite movies ever, WasteLand. Did you see Waste Land? Wow.

...i don't remember if Motorcycle Diaries was Brazilian. that was good too.

omg, i totally forgot about The Secret in Her Eyes (I hope that's the title). That was amazing.

Constant Gardener was fantastic too.

I think I remember Barnes saying he liked Kiss of the Spider Woman but I can't remember.

Have you seen Bus 174? That's one that I've been trying to see forever, I hear great great things.

Yep, Waste Land is a good film and another that I think the title was poorly translated, it should’ve been "Extraordinary Garbage" or better yet “Garbage Extraordinaire”.

Motorcycle Diaries was not Brazilian And I enjoyed it too.

The Secret in Her Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) is an Argentine film.

Constant Gardener although it is directed by a Brazilian, I consider it to be a foreign film.

Kiss of the Spider Woman (O Beijo da Mulher Aranha) it is directed by Hector Babenco a (Argentine born) Brazilian director and is a good film, although I find the book to be better.

Bus 174 I liked, surprisingly it was better than expected.

Brazil is really misrepresented in its Cinema, it is a big nation and has little notoriety in the world outside of sports, women and parties, when you talk with foreigners they seem to have absolutely no idea about what it is like in here. There are such disparities between different regions and within regions itself that even Brazilians don’t know their country very well.

The films that do reach other countries are inevitably about crime or poorness. Although there are great films about those subjects I feel that my day-to-day live or the life in the city is nowhere to be seen in Brazilian films, unless it is a romantic comedy with erotic tones.

Our country is shown in two views worth seeing: super realistic documentaries about corner cases or incidental crimes; and fantastical realism about our past or some no man’s land that 99% of the population hadn’t even know it existed. There are gems between those, and indubitably both are an important part of knowing Brazil but I want better films about life in Brazil.

A great example is 2003’s “O Homem que Copiava” (The Man Who Copied), although Brazil has changed much in these 10 years, that is much more like the life I have [but in a bigger (and greatest in the world) city and not as piss poor]. It is a Fiasco-like kind of film (it’s actually recommended in the rulebook of the game) with great acting and where every wicked plan works!



At Amazon (the cover is not that one)

This can't go on much further without mention of Ze de Caixao/Coffin Joe (Jose Mojica Marins).

I know of Black God, White Devil (fucking awesome title) but I've not seen it...that poster is great too.

Definitely would like to see more Cinema Novo...filmmaking at "flashpoint" times, in movements like that, can be some very exciting stuff.

It's really unfortunate. but it seems that US film viewers would rather see poverty and misery...there's this weird thing that many Americans subconsciously WANT to see that other countries are not as well off, and therefore don't want to see normal, middle-class Brazilians and other people as they really live.

Michael Barnes wrote: It's really unfortunate. but it seems that US film viewers would rather see poverty and misery...there's this weird thing that many Americans subconsciously WANT to see that other countries are not as well off, and therefore don't want to see normal, middle-class Brazilians and other people as they really live.

I think it fucks up the US worldview that their system/country is better than anywhere else if they see success elsewhere in different cultures and government systems.

I think it really freaks some US folk out (no one here of course, except Jeff) that many Scandinavian countries are relatively peaceful, low crime, low recidivism, low guns, strong social services, taxes that people don't actually mind paying and very little religion states where people are reasonably happy (sure I saw a 'happy' index a while ago and Scandinavia was high up there).

However, don't wanna threadjack this so we can save that argument for a Friday.

I'm thinking Boys from Brazil doesn't count.

No, Pete. Neither do the Brazilian Booty Lift infomercials.

Yeah, it is really kind of this weird American arrogance...we hear about how terrible life is in these other countries but when you talk to folks that live in normal, middle-class areas...they're like "what are you talking about?"

I really think this is why US-released foreign films from countries populated mostly populated by darker skinned folks tend to be more about strife, extreme situations, crime, poverty, and social malaise. It's a two-pronged marketing strategy that tugs at the white guilt heartstrings while also supporting this idea that everybody else is worse off than we are.

Fast & Furious?

I confess, I'm not very familiar with Brazilian cinema. Although I did watch the documentary "Senna" which was really good. But I don't think that was made by a Brazilian.

City of God was great. City of Men was good. I haven't seen any other Brazilian movies so far. I am vaguely aware that the economy in Brazil has been growing rapidly in recent years, and Sao Paulo seems like a neat place. But I have also heard that there is a terrible crime problem there.

duh...posting in the wrong thread...nevermind me.

Michael, I think that you’d be surprised if you saw the light in which Zé do Caixão is portrayed in Brazil’s mainstream media. He’s mostly seen as someone to be laugh at, a creep of some sort, he has a very good show at Canal Brazil (an awesome cable channel), but every once in a while goes to reg TV where his ironies flies over the host’s head that thinks he has a show monkey on stage.

If you haven’t seen yet, I recommend the 2001 documentary film, Damned - The Strange World of José Mojica Marins (Maldito - O Estranho Mundo de José Mojica Marins).


Shellhead, São Paulo is great! I don’t really think is the greatest city in the world or anything, but the diversity of culture, food, minds and faces does get your blood pumpin’. And better yet, without all of it being compartmentalized in little boxes, this is Brazil after all.

There is a crime problem all over Brazil, BUT I think it is oversold, I’ve lived in São Paulo my whole life and have never been mugged or suffered violence in any way, the only guns I’ve ever seen were in the hands of cops, and I live near rough neighborhoods, don’t own a car and walk home from the subway 1 a.m. coming drunk from a bar or club like no problem.

Talking about the US point of view about other cultures, I want to tell you a little about ours (or at least mine) of your country, the opinion about US here is really swingy, when it is useful people tend to rave about things over there, how tough it is on crime, judging kids like adults, sports leagues, technology, movies, or romantic views about the quality of education or the lack of corruption.

That, I mostly call bullshit, aside from sports, technology arriving sooner and cheaper, and the corruption levels not being as outrageously high as in Brazil, I feel the US are pretty average in those other things with an inclination towards religious fundamentalism, decline of education standards and humongous military costs that could be spent to better the lives of its citizens, just to justify a feeling of superiority.
Oh, and we make fun of you not using the metric system, too.

Brazilians, on the other hand, are (or were) know to have Complexo de Vira-lata (Cur Dog Complex) (or Mutt, the exact translation is impossible, the literal translation is to knock [trash] cans, a stray dog), the inferiority, in which the Brazilian puts itself, voluntarily, to the rest of the world; A backwards Narcissus that spits on its own image; To not find personal or historical value to boost its self-esteem.


That brings us to my recommendation of the day!!!

1969’s film Macunaíma is an adaptation of the 1928’s book by Mário de Andrade, it’s the story of Macunaíma, the Hero without a character, and it is an attempt to represent Brazilian culture and language as a whole. It is a surreal work that bends time, language, religion, race and culture on itself and adds shape shifting and giant slaying to make it awesome.

The book was part of the Movimento Antropofágico (Cannibal Movement) created by Oswaldo de Andrade with his Cannibalist Manifesto (which can be found in English here ), that was the most important movement in our Modernist literature and culture, an attempt to create “exportation poetry “, our voice and self-worth, to gobble, to critically gorge, to internalize and then export.

The book is way better than the film, but I still think the movie is worth, it is different, that is for sure.





The movie at Amazon
The book at Amazon